IN A WEEK OF MADNESS, IT FALLS TO THE SPFL TO ACTUALLY TALK SENSE

This has been a truly bizarre few days to be a Celtic fan.

As I type this we are currently cruising at around 36,000 feet in the air, somewhere over eastern Asia, headed for Scotland.

And, no, before you ask the obvious question; even from up here, there’s still no sign of “The Rangers Coming”!

Anyway, back on topic. It seems a veritable mile-long queue of those typically opposed, or in most cases indifferent to Celtic’s cause has lined up to put the boot into us. They really did go absolutely all in on the Hearts love-in.

And when Hearts were broken on Saturday afternoon, the inevitable tantrums have been, somehow even more unhinged than what we saw in midweek after (let me check my notes) a referee looked at VAR and correctly gave Celtic a penalty.

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The SPFL, For Once, Show Actual Leadership, with Short, Fair and Decisive Statement

The statement published on the SPFL’s website a couple of hours ago said the following:

“Firstly, we send our congratulations to Celtic on winning the William Hill Premiership in the most exciting of circumstances and send our commiserations to everyone at Heart of Midlothian following an incredible campaign.

This is how any statement about Saturday’s events should begin. Congratulating two teams, whose combined efforts over an entire season led to the most enthralling, and frankly, miraculous ending to a season since 1986.

Hearts came even closer on Saturday than they did on “Albert Kidd Day” 40 years ago, but in the end Celtic still won.

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The statement continues:

“We would also like to thank the referee and his excellent team of match officials for their cool heads on such a dramatic day. Given the speculation about the conclusion of the game, we would like to make clear that, prior to awarding the trophy, we were informed by the match referee that the match had ended and had not been abandoned.

Once again, as the SPFL, to their credit, quickly and unswervingly did after Wednesday’s match, they have backed their officials. The referee’s decision is final, as many Rangers, and indeed, occasionally, Hearts fans have enjoyed reminded me over the years when Celtic have been on the receiving end of contentious calls.

This should be the end of any further debate or discussion of the matter in a sporting legitimacy sense. However, the usual gaggle of miscreants, moon-howlers and ambulance chasers in our media will do their best to make sure that doesn’t happen.

However, if I am going to call others out then its only fair I also do likewise when some of our own let us down too. The statement concludes on this harsh, but I think reasonable note:

“Yesterday’s match showed off the very best of the Scottish game and the drama and excitement that it is rightly famed for. The eyes of the world were on Glasgow and the climax of the William Hill Premiership, with millions of viewers watching the match on Sky Sports and across the globe.

“However, we utterly condemn the scenes which saw a number of Celtic supporters encroach onto the field of play. We await the report of our match delegate regarding any specific incidents that took place but, regardless, supporters entering the field of play in any circumstances is wholly unacceptable and puts those participating and working at a match at risk.

We note that entering the pitch in England and Wales has been a criminal offence since 1991. We urge anyone with information about any alleged criminal activity to contact Police Scotland.”

Celtic fans shouldn’t have invaded the pitch yesterday, just as we shouldn’t have after smashing the winning penalty past Scotland’s Shame in the recent Scottish Cup quarter final.

However, as this statement points out, that alone is not a criminal offence in Scotland. The debate as to whether it should be is something that parliament, and indeed wider Scottish society will need to have a conversation about, probably sometime soon.

And I second the call from the SPFL, that if anyone did indeed commit any criminal offence on the Celtic Park pitch on the final day of the league season, then they should face all the repercussions that entails. They should lose their season tickets for a start.

However, unlike what seems to be almost every other writer in the UK over the past few days, I will not throw Celtic fans under the bus until I see some hard evidence of overt criminal behavior. So far the only person I have seen raising their hands against anyone in anger is Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland.

In fairness though, I wouldn’t judge Shankland too harshly here either. I mean, if A wave of football fans suddenly surged towards me, and in the heat of the moment I was unsure of their intentions, I may well have opted to raise my hands too.

Cooler heads need to prevail here, and I hope that Shankland doesn’t face any serious sanction. As those fans on the pitch showed on Saturday afternoon, we all do daft things in the heat of the moment.

Enjoy the next few days everyone. We have earned it. The rabble will continue regardless, but it is mere background noise.

Celtic are the Champions. That is what matters most.